Huoyun Zhiyan wiped away his sweat and inquired. "Sir, who... who exactly is that person? Which realm is he from?" "Lian Jinshu from the Nine Stars Realm." Huoyun Zhiyan and the others froze as soon as Feng Xishui mentioned the name. "My princess doesn’t care about your shops in other kingdoms, but she ordered you to close your shop in the Xian Kingdom because her sister wants to open an alchemy shop there. You don’t need to punish that foolish old man, as she already has her own plans for him. If you or the people from your alchemy union dare to protect him, I will lead some people from my phoenix race to destroy all your shops in these middle realms, including this organization. My princess never jokes with her words, so you should immediately carry out her order, or you guys will suffer the consequences." "Sir, we-" "I didn’t come here to negotiate with you." Immediately, Feng Xishui flicked his finger, causing several small flames to enter their bodies and turning their faces pale. "All of you have indeed reached the Divine Manifestation Realm, but your strengths are nothing in my eyes. If any of you dare to disobey my princess’s order, I will immediately activate my flame inside your bodies, and you guys will turn to ashes in a matter of seconds." After Feng Xishui disappeared from the room, Huoyun Zhiyan and his colleagues immediately took a deep breath. An old man dressed in a brown alchemist robe immediately questioned their leader. "What should we do, Zhiyan? Are we really going to sacrifice Lian Jinshu? Moreover, the alchemy market in the Xian Kingdom is the second largest after the Zhou Kingdom, and we will suffer a substantial loss if we close our shop there." "Are you an idiot, Sun Jianming?" An old woman, also dressed in an alchemist’s robe, inquired in a high voice. "Do you think we can fight the Phoenix race? Have you forgotten what they did to us when we tried to dominate the alchemy market in the upper realms? Do you think Lian Jinshu’s life and the alchemy market in the Xian Kingdom are more important than our lives? Princess Feng Yao is the beloved daughter of the Phoenix Emperor and Empress, and they are two of the strongest cultivators there, so they will not hesitate to destroy us if we dare to defy her order." The old woman’s mention darkened Sun Jianming’s face, but he couldn’t refute her as he still remembered the incident vividly, and they were forced to return to the middle realms without being able to fight back in the slightest. "Xiu Hanyu is right, Old Jianming." Huoyun Zhiyan expressed this sentiment with a heavy sigh. "I don’t want to lose the alchemy market in the Xian Kingdom, but our lives are more important. It doesn’t matter if we lose one of the markets, especially since Princess Feng Yao has no intention of interfering with our other affairs, and we still have full control over the entire alchemy market in these middle realms. Sun Jianming could only sigh deeply and concur. "In that case, we should inform Cheng Feng and the other two about this issue to prevent them from aiding Lian Jinshu. If Princess Feng Yao drives us out of the Nine Stars Realm, we will suffer a greater loss, especially since the alchemy market in that realm ranks among the top five in these middle realms." "Yeah." Huoyun Zhiyan immediately pulled out a communication device and ordered someone to contact his representatives in the Nine Stars Realm. "You two can tell the others not to go to that realm for the time being, especially since I’m sure Sir Feng Xishui is still watching us, or we’ll face even bigger trouble than this." Sun Jianming and Xiu Hanyu immediately left the room to meet the other elders of the Alchemy Union, and Huoyun Zhiyan sat down in his chair and let out a heavy sigh. . . . Lian Jinshu, who was checking some herbs in his shop, immediately collapsed after he heard the message from one of the Alchemy Union’s higher-ups. "What happened? Why did they suddenly decide to let go of the market in this kingdom? Furthermore, they terminated my membership in the organization without providing a detailed explanation for their decision." Four of Lian Jinshu’s five guards suddenly entered the shop, and Dugu Yun immediately told him the order from their higher-ups. "Old Lian, you are no longer a representative of our organization, so we will no longer protect you, and you can take care of your own matters." "Where is Huan Ya?" Lian Jishu asked. "I haven’t seen her since a week ago, so I don’t know about her whereabouts. She is completely loyal to the organization, and they must have told her about their decision, so there is no point in you looking for her." Lian Jishu’s face darkened, but he knew that all the guards had always been loyal to their organization. "They have ordered you to leave this shop immediately, and you must leave all the items here as they belong to the organization." Lian Jinshu didn’t say anything and went to his private room to tidy up his personal belongings, especially since he was still shocked by the sudden decision of the Alchemy Union’s higher-ups. "Hey, Dugu Yun. What do you think really happened? Why did they suddenly expel Old Lian from our organization?" One of the guards, Li Sanxi, asked the question. "We are just low-rank guards, so we don’t need to question the orders of our higher-ups; we only need to carry out their orders." Dugu Yun’s answer caused Li Sanxi and the other two to sigh. Unlike them, Situ Yi smiled faintly and immediately contacted Zhang Fei to inform him about their organization’s decision regarding Lian Jinshu. Shortly afterward, they escorted Lian Jinshu out of the shop. However, the old man gazed at the shop for some time before departing, while his former four guards merely observed him from afar. ’Sigh! Since I have no place to stay in this kingdom anymore, I should go to Hexie City in the Bai Kingdom to see my family.’ . . . Huan Ya, who was resting in a village, looked confused after she received the order from the Alchemy Union higher-ups. Moreover, their decision regarding Lian Jinshu was too sudden, so she felt strange about it. "Could this matter have something to do with Zhang Fei? How did he know them? Could it be that he has stronger backers than them?" Just as she was thinking, Huan Ya suddenly received a voice transmission from one of Zhang Fei’s clones; he asked her to hurry to Hexie City, as Lian Jinshu was on his way there. "Tch! That guy treats me like his slave." Despite this, Huan Ya immediately left the village to carry out Zhang Fei’s order because she had already experienced the benefits of his pills and was eager to obtain better ones in order to advance to the Seven Divine Realms. . . . In the alchemy shop in the Bai Kingdom, the representative of the Alchemy Union for the kingdom was sitting together with the leader of his five guards. However, their expressions were puzzled after receiving orders about Lian Jinshu from their higher-ups. Cheng Feng directly spoke to the leader of his guards. "Yong Zhengjun, I know that Old Jian is your brother-in-law, but he is not more important than your status in our organization. They have already given strict orders, and you will definitely lose your status if you insist on helping him, so you must think carefully about your decision." "You are right, Old Cheng." Yong Zhengjun replied with a heavy sigh. "I will not protect Old Lian, but I will still protect my sister and her children. I do not know about his real problem, but I am sure some people or groups are pressuring our higher-ups to make such a decision, and those people must be much stronger than them. I was worried that those people would target them, so I thought about moving them to another city, especially since I couldn’t possibly protect them from those strong cultivators." Your next journey awaits at freewebnovel Cheng Feng himself also had the same thought, or else their higher-ups would not hand over the alchemy market in the Xian Kingdom just like that, and he believed there was a thorny issue behind their decision. "All right, you can go now and move them to a safer city, so they won’t be dragged into Old Lian’s troubles." "Yeah." Yong Zhengjun immediately left the alchemy shop and rushed back to the residence in Hexie City. However, he was still unaware that one of Zhang Fei’s clones was continuously monitoring him and Lian Jinshu’s family. . . . In the Xian royal palace, Xian Feng was talking to his wife, Shi Qingzhuang. They were both surprised after receiving news from one of their subordinates who was monitoring Lian Jinshu. "What do you think made the Alchemy Union decide to withdraw from our kingdom, husband? They even revoked his membership and forced him to leave our kingdom." "I’m not sure about their reasons." Xian Feng then looked into the distance. "If my guess is right, Zhang Fei probably contacted his master or someone else to help him sort out his problems with the organization, and they are much stronger than them because they came from the upper realms. Since the organization decided to withdraw from our kingdom, he can open his shop soon. However, I don’t know about his alchemy skills or pills, so I don’t know whether this incident will be an advantage or disadvantage to our people." "Well, that’s true." Shi Qingzhuang then changed the topic of their conversation. "I think Zhang Fei was too reckless in showing his true strength to those people, and he even managed to defeat Zhou Fang. I’m sure Huangfu Shou and the others are already targeting him, and they must have instructed their children to kill him. Not to mention, the demons from the two demon kingdoms are also in the tower, and they probably already planned to capture him." Xian Feng shook his head in disagreement with his wife’s opinion. "Zhang Fei may have been reckless in doing so, but I am sure that he has thought through all his moves carefully. Moreover, he has the ability to move from one realm to another with ease, and he only needs to send all his wives and those closest to him to another realm if Huangfu Shou and the others threaten their safety. He can also ask for help from his master or people who help him in dealing with his problems with the Alchemy Union, so we don’t worry about him. Anyway, what about Qinghai and Xinyue’s condition?" "Sister Xuehua told me that Qinghai was disappointed because of his failure, but he was fine because he immediately surrendered after knowing that his opponent was Zhou Tai." This brought relief to Xian Feng, prompting Shi Qingzhuang to proceed. "Changyue told me that Xinyue’s condition was critical after Bai Shouyi poisoned her. However, Zhang Fei managed to remove the poison from her body, so she is fine now, and she can continue to challenge the next challenge tomorrow." "Zhang Fei’s presence has brought many changes, especially for our daughter. She had repeatedly failed the demon heart challenge because she could never get rid of her guilt towards Qian Ying, but his words helped her overcome it, and she finally managed to get through it." Xian Feng suddenly remembered something. "Unfortunately, Huang Chi and Xuan Wuji failed their battle challenge. Their numbers will likely decrease after the other challenges, so I’m not sure they can complete the survival and maze challenges with such small numbers unless they join the other groups." Shi Qingzhuang herself was concerned about the situation. "Changyue informed me that people from the beast and natural races’ kingdoms have started to approach Zhang Fei, and they seem to want to establish good relations with him, so I think they can join their groups. That way, their chances of passing the two challenges will be greater, and they might be able to clear the first floor this time." "You can tell Changyue about it and ask her to consider the possibility of them joining their groups, but you must also tell her not to force Zhang Fei." Shi Qingzhuang nodded to Xian Feng and contacted her sister-in-law directly to tell her about it. She also asked Xian Changyue to tell Zhang Fei about the alchemy union’s decision regarding Lian Jinshu. . . . === [Ding] [Daily Quest: Absorb 100,000 Qi.] [Status: Done.] [Reward: 1,000 bronze coins sent to the inventory.] === [Daily Quest: Killing 500 beasts or demon beasts at the earth realm or above.] [Status: Done.] [Reward: Daily gift pack x1 sent to the inventory.] === Xian Changyue immediately told Zhang Fei about Lian Jinshu’s matter, but he had already heard about it from Situ Yi. ’Why did they suddenly decide that? Who helped me with that? Could it be Feng Yao who did it?’ [I think it was Feng Yao who did it, Master. After all, her relationship with Zhang Lingxue was very good, and she even gave her the phoenix bloodline. Since the Alchemy Union has withdrawn from the Xian Kingdom, you can open your shop in the capital without having to worry about them.] Zhang Fei nodded in agreement with that so he could complete the quest to open a shop. ’I’ll use my clone to meet Xian Feng this morning so I can buy a new building for my new shop. Not only will I sell alchemy supplies, but I’ll also sell other items later. Anyway, open the two daily gift packs, Mei.’ [You obtained 1 Blood Essence Pill.] [You obtained 1 Sunfire Liquid.] "Mhmm." Zhang Fei immediately looked down at Yun Xinyue, who had just opened her eyes. "How do you feel?" Yun Xinyue blushed as she realized her situation, but she immediately answered Zhang Fei. "Thank you for saving me, or else I would have died from Bai Shouyi’s poison." "You don’t have to think about it." Zhang Fei then put another recovery pill into Yun Xinyue’s mouth, causing her heart to pound as his fingers touched her lips. "Your condition is better than before, but you haven’t fully recovered, so you must swallow this pill." "Yes." Yun Xinyue immediately swallowed the pill before asking. "What about my brother? Did he successfully pass his test?" "Yun Qinghai failed because his opponent was Zhou Tai." Zhang Fei’s answer caused Yun Xinyue to let out a heavy sigh because her brother was confident that he would pass all the tests, but he had to fail because he was facing a stronger opponent. "We still have a day to rest, so you should continue your rest, or else you won’t be ready to face the next challenge." Yun Xinyue nodded and closed her eyes immediately, but her mind was filled with Zhang Fei’s figure, which made it difficult for her to rest her mind. ’What are your plans next?’ Zhang Fei immediately turned to Xian Changyue, who inquired about it. He then shared some of his plans with her. ’I don’t understand how you managed to make the Alchemy Union make that decision, but I think it’s good for my kingdom. They have been monopolizing the market for an excessive amount of time, and that old fool is also selling everything at a high price. Are you sure you can replace them by selling alchemy supplies? If you fail to provide the best quality, the people in my kingdom will go to the other kingdoms to buy their supplies from that organization again, so your efforts will only be in vain.’ Zhang Fei nodded in agreement with that. ’Actually, I haven’t thought that far ahead, but I believe I have a solution to that. However, I need someone to help me, and I will contact her after we return from this tower.’ ’She? Is that woman also your wife?’ Xian Changyue asked with a raised eyebrow. ’Haha.’ Zhang Fei laughed at that. ’To tell you the truth, I want her to be my wife, but she is not an ordinary woman, and she is very unique. Her status is much higher than all the royal members in this realm, so she is still far beyond my reach. Even so, I’m sure I can make her fall in love with me someday, but I must reach her level first.’ Xian Changyue looked incredulous. ’What’s her name?’ ’Feng Yao.’ Zhang Fei replied with a smile as he imagined the figure of the phoenix princess. ’You may not believe me now, but you will definitely understand her uniqueness when you meet her later.’ - To Be Continued -